KUWAIT CITY - Kuwait's emir on Sunday split the posts of crown prince and prime minister, naming long-serving foreign minister and half-brother Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed as the emirate's new premier, AFP reported.

Sheikh Sabah, 74, replaces Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Salem al-Sabah, 72, who had been prime minister since 1978 but retains the post of crown prince in the reshuffle, the official KUNA news agency said.

The decree asked Sheikh Sabah, who previously served as first deputy premier and has run the foreign ministry since 1963, to form a new government, KUNA said.

The cabinet will have to be in place by parliament's inaugural session on July 19.

The former cabinet resigned on July 6, a day after the legislative elections in which the liberals lost most of their seats to Islamist, pro-government and independent candidates.

The decree brought an end to days of speculation over whether the emir would separate the two posts of crown prince and premier, a move that the emirate's liberals have made strong calls for over the years.

Sheikh Sabah, a pro-liberal who favors privatization and globalization, is keen on improving Kuwaiti-Arab relations, even with those Arab governments that supported Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in August 1990 and occupied the emirate for seven months.

Due to health problems, Sheikh Saad had already delegated extensive authority to Sheikh Sabah.

However, retaining his post as crown prince, Sheikh Saad, a distant cousin of the emir, would automatically become head of state in the event of Sheikh Jaber's death.

This would be in accordance with a tradition whereby the Al-Jaber branch of the ruling Al-Sabah family, to which the emir and Sheikh Sabah belong, alternates the position of head of state with the Al-Salem branch, represented by Sheikh Saad.

Both branches are descendants of Emir Sheikh Mubarak al-Sabah, who ruled until 1915.

Sheikh Saad underwent colon surgery in early 1997 and has since spent long periods in Britain and the United States for recovery and medical tests.

Each time he has traveled abroad for tests, official statements have been released to underline worries about his health, fuelling the debate about the succession. Sheikh Saad himself confided in early 2000 that his doctors had advised him "not to exhaust himself and to delegate less important tasks to colleagues."